Here's how an iPhone fitness app showed up in an Apple TV ad and what happened next

In June 2014, Apple launched an iPhone 5s TV commercial called "Strength" which showcased a number of fitness apps. One of them was Quick Fit: 7 Minute Workout. Now, over a year after that commercial was released, the creator of the app, Robleh Jama, has written an article on how it got picked by Apple to appear in the ad. He also goes over the impact the commercial had on the app after it was launched.

Apple's ad agency contacted Jama's company Tiny Hearts earlier in 2014 stating the Quick Fit app might appear in an upcoming commercial. After signing a number of release forms, the agency then informed Jama that the app would indeed appear in the international version of "Strength", and that it would run during the World Cup tournament in Italy and France.

Jama stated:

Before the ad hit, Quick Fit wasn't even ranking in the top 400 Health & Fitness apps in Italy, let alone the top overall paid list. But that changed around the evening of June 20. We watched as Quick Fit climbed the top overall charts literally overnight, peaking at 26th overall and top 5 in the Health & Fitness category in Italy.

We saw the same steep spike in France a few days later, where it peaked at 19th overall and 5th in Health & Fitness.

He added that after the commercial aired, he offered Quick Fit for free in those countries for a few days to keep the momentum going. You can learn more about how the app continued to be a success at the Medium blog site.